


The Heart of the Storm

by chaoscavalier



Series: Requested Fics [1]
Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute Date Ideas: Adopting Kittens, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Theatre Kid Grimnir, rescuing kittens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29850606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoscavalier/pseuds/chaoscavalier
Summary: After a day as miserable as the weather, young college student Grimnir is wandering his way home through the rain when a sound catches his attention...
Relationships: Alexiel & Grimnir (Granblue Fantasy), Alexiel/Grimnir (Granblue Fantasy)
Series: Requested Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2194626
Kudos: 3





	The Heart of the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nyaaru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyaaru/gifts).



> Well, after disappearing from ao3 for... a while, I'm back! Lots has happened over the past few months in terms of both rl stress and... well, you know, EVERYTHING. But! I'm back writing again, and to start getting back into things I'll be posting some requests I completed between December and February.
> 
> This one is a very adorable request from the lovely Nyaaru! Writing Grimu is so much fun and this such a heart warming little au to work with! Enjoy!

On most days, Grimnir would have welcomed the barrage of spring rains. In fact, on any other day, he might even have gone so far as to stand in the battering winds and pelting drops with his arms spread wide to embrace its ferocity, but today was different. Today, Grimnir was miserable.

Book-filled bag clutched to his chest and the hood of his jacket pulled as far over his face as the stitches would allow, he hurried through the downpour, unsure if the drips running along his cheeks were from the rain or his own tears.  _ How could they?! _ How could they say such terrible things about the script he’d spent so many weeks carefully transferring from his mind to the pages upon pages of notebook paper? How had they failed to appreciate all of his hard work, his very first  _ magnus opus _ ? Grimnir had always wanted to be able to study acting and script-writing at university - had been so overjoyed when the acceptance letter had arrived - but now, he felt like he never wanted to go back. 

What did they know, anyway? What did they know about his story, and his characters, and the journeys they were going through?  _ Nothing! _

He gave an angry sniff and picked up his pace, trying to ignore the water filling the bottom of his shoes and the terrible squelching it made with every hurried step. Home wasn’t far away - once he reached it, he could curl up on his bed and try to forget all about this terrible, awful, horrible day. Maybe he’d even make himself some hot coco in his favourite mug, and re-watch one of his favourite movies, to help him feel better. That usually worked, didn’t it? All he had to do was get home…

_ Maow! _

Grimnir skidded to a stop, water splashing onto his already soaked jeans, and tilted his head. Strange… For a moment he thought he’d heard a strange kind of squeak, but as he stood and listened the only sound was the clamour of the rain, and the distant rumbling of cars from the main road a few streets back. A bird, perhaps, trying to get back to its nest - considering how cold it was getting, Grimnir needed to do the same unless he hoped to make himself ill. Just a few more streets now, and he’d -  _ MAAOW! _

Mid-step, Grimnir froze again, eyes darting to the weedy undergrowth beside the footpath. The sound was far too loud to have been his imagination that time, and far too close to be a bird… Was someone playing a trick on him? 

“Uh...Hello…?”

More rain, a bitterly cool gust, and then, almost hopefully: “ _ Maow?” _

“ _ Maow... _ ” Grimnir repeated, blinking. “A… kitten?”

The volume of the water crashing against the concrete had almost buried the tiny squeaks, but as Grimnir listened more carefully, there was no doubting it. He lowered himself into a squat and shuffled closer to a cluster of shrubs and old weeds, trying to peer through the labyrinth of leaves and branches. It took him a moment, squinting against the rain and his mouth twisted into a frown of effort, before he spotted a muddied old towel, and a tiny pair of eyes - one bright green and the other sapphire blue - watching him.

“Oh! There you are!”

The little eyes widened. “ _ MAOWWWW!” _

They vanished out of view with a rustle of leaves, and a moment later, as Grimnir worried he’d scared the poor thing away, a scrawny, dirt-smeared, crusty-eyed little white kitten wobbled its way onto the footpath in front of him, trembling as it stood and peered up at him. Drops of rain dripped down off the shrub onto it, almost as big as its nose, and it shook its head - the effort nearly made it fall over.

“ _ MAOW! _ ”

Grimnir felt his heart nearly burst. There was no hesitation, only a moment of surprise before he’d set his bag aside in the rain and shrugged out of his jacket. With all the care in the world - maybe even more - he gently lifted the tiny kitten, earning himself a defiant squeak of protest, and noticed something oddly coloured against the clumps of dirt and fur. No wonder it had been struggling to walk - it was tangled up in some kind of string, carelessly tossed aside as rubbish to now ensnare this tiny beast! 

“Fiends!” Grimnir cursed quietly, not wanting to startle the tiny bundle of unhappy arguments. “Don’t you worry, little one, Grimnir’s here to rescue you.”

The string, however, was too tightly wound around the poor kitten, and Grimnir’s fingers too cold to be of much use, so he made the quick decision to get it home first and try to de-string it there, out of the rain. It took a few fumbling moments to free the string from where it had caught in a tangle of sticks, but once he’d done so he unfolded his bundled jacket and placed the kitten on the driest part before wrapping it up tightly. It struggled at first, squirming and squeaking, until it seemed to realise it was being helped and surrendered to the soft material, still warm from Grimnir’s body heat. Only its little head was visible, and it turned to blink up at Grimnir, eyes wide and curious - Grimnir smiled back at it.

“There you go, little one!” he cooed gently. “Nice and warm now, right? I hope you don’t mind, but I’m gonna bring you home with me, ok?”

“ _ Mhrr? _ ”

Securely tucked into the little cocoon, the kitten finally settled down; once it had, Grimnir was able to turn his thoughts back to getting home, and finally realised just how  _ freezing _ he was. Without his jacket, the rain had soaked through his t-shirt, and was streaming down his hair to create a little waterfall in front of his face - how foolish of him to have let his fringe get so long! His jacket and its tiny occupant cradled in one arm, Grimnir managed to lift his bag with his free hand, despite its shaking, and stood up, though it was a little more difficult than he’d expected, given how stiff his legs had become. Even with his feet starting to go numb at the toes, Grimnir wasn’t about to let that stop him, not when he had a kitten-in-distress depending on him.

By now the rain was heavy enough that the roads had started to flood, puddles becoming more like ponds and gutter run-off more like rapids. Grimnir was able to carefully skirt his way around the deepest and most treacherous parts, but there wasn’t enough time for detours if he wanted to get the kitten somewhere warm, so on more than one occasion he forced himself to wade through water well above his ankles. A trial he would willingly overcome, for the sake of aiding one in need! Soaked to the bone, his shoes far beyond salvaging, and shaking so fiercely he could barely cling to his now leaden bag, he was able to turn the last couple of corners and arrive at the entrance to his building. Getting up the two flights of stairs while his teeth chattered louder than a thunder rumble and his feet felt as heavy as boulders was just as much of a challenge, but he finally -  _ finally _ \- made it to his front door. Both hands being full, he managed to kick the door a couple of times instead of knocking, and had to wait a moment before it opened.

“Grimnir, don’t tell me you lost your keys again…”

The tired voice of his roommate, Shiva, greeted him, but at the sight of Grimnir dripping wet and shaking like mad, Shiva’s usually calm expression turned to one of surprise.

“What happened?”

“C-Can you c-call Alex?” Grimnir stammered, shuffling his way inside and hurrying towards the heater in their living room. “I f-f-found a k-k-k-kitten!”

“A kitten?” The door clicked shut and Shiva’s voice followed him, but Grimnir was already in a different room, collapsing to the ground rather than lowering himself gracefully - his knees were no longer capable of grace - and jamming their cheap old electric heater up to full strength. “Grimnir, you look like the one in need of rescuing, not a stray kitten.”

He wasn’t wrong, exactly, but Grimnir had more important things to worry about. Gently unfurling his dampened jacket, he was immensely relieved to discover that the kitten, though very soggy and trembling from the chill, was still alive and bright enough to give him a squeak - possibly of thanks, but more likely of annoyance for having been dragged through the rain. 

“ _ Mrow!” _

“I-I-It’s ok-k-k-k, little one, we’ll g-g-get you warmed up s-s-s-soon!” Sure enough, the heater was starting to kick into action, but not quickly enough. “C-Can you get me a t-t-towel or t-two?”

Standing in the doorway, Shiva finished typing something into his phone before looking up; he still had his glasses on, a sure sign that he’d been in the middle of studying, and looked to be in desperate need of an early night’s sleep. 

“Alright. Alexiel is on her way here, too.”

By the time the doorbell announced Alexiel’s arrival, Grimnir had successfully dried away most of the excess water from the kitten’s muddied coat, and was now holding it gingerly in front of the heater, curled up in the drier of the two towels Shiva had brought him - it had stopped meowing so much now, and seemed to almost be asleep, though it still opened its mismatched eyes every few moments to glare at Grimnir. The string was still tangled around it, twisted through its legs and tail and all around its body, but it didn’t seem to pose an immediate danger, at least. He heard the door open, and the hurried steps of Alexiel rushing towards him.

“Grimnir, what were you  _ thinking?! _ Look at you - you’re soaking wet! If you’ve gone and gotten yourself a cold I swear I’ll -!”

As the steps stopped behind him, Alexiel suddenly fell silent with a gasp, and Grimnir looked up to see her eyes widen at the sight of the tiny little kitten, helpless and quivering. In an instant, her voice went from stern to gentle, kneeling down beside Grimnir to gently take the precious bundle from him.

“Oh, look at her! She’s not even a month old...” Alexiel shifted to sit cross-legged as close to the heater as she could, resting the towel and the kitten within it on her lap and turning her attention back to Grimnir - though her voice stayed gentle, he expression returned to a frown. “You need to get warmed up too, Grim. I’ll take care of her here while you go take a warm shower and get some dry clothes on, ok? No arguments!”

Grimnir was about to point out that he didn’t even feel cold anymore until he realised that, firstly, Alexiel could and absolutely would drag him to the shower herself if she had to, and secondly that the reason he didn’t feel so cold was because his whole body was turning numb, from the tips of his ears to the ends of his toes. Perhaps a warm shower was a wise suggestion… Getting up, however, felt more like trying to shove a mountain, and it was more of a hobble than a walk as he made his way into his room, grabbed the first set of dry clothes he could find, and stumbled into the shower. As pleasant as it was to feel his skin being thawed out from its icy state, Grimnir kept the shower as short as he could, eager to get back to his very precious little friend, and dried and dressed in a flurry of fabrics before hurrying back to the living room.

Thankfully, though, Alexiel was a natural when it came to animals. She was still sitting in front of the heater, but the bundled towel was now cradled in her arms like a baby, and just the kitten’s tiny head was visible, sound asleep. Two still-steaming mugs of hot chocolate sat on the coffee table nearby, as well as a pair of scissors; Grimnir sat down next to her, careful to make as little noise as possible.

“How is it?” He kept his voice to a stage whisper, hoping it might be enough to leave the slumbering kitten undisturbed, but immediately the heterochromic eyes blinked open, its impossibly small ears twitching. “Oh, sorry!”

Alexiel gave a quiet laugh and reached up to tickle the kitten’s head. “I think she was worried about where you’d gone, Grimmy. She wouldn’t stop crying for the first minute after you’d left.”

There was no denying the way Grimnir’s heart swelled to hear that. Maybe it wasn’t quite as upset with him as he’d first thought…

“Wait, did you say  _ she _ ?”

“I think so,” nodded Alexiel. “It’s hard to tell at this stage, when they’re so young, but I think she’s a girl. What are you going to do with her?”

“Keep her, of course!” Grimnir caught the distinct sound of Shiva’s disapproving huff from the kitchen. “I mean, I don’t want to give her to a shelter when she’s so young, and it’s not like she’ll take up much room here in the apartment, right…?”

“I think that’s a great idea, actually. You’d make a wonderful cat-dad.”

Grimnir brightened to outshine even the summer sun’s glow. “Y-You think so?!”

“It’s a big responsibility, but I think you can handle it. And she likes you, after all.” As if on cue, the little kitten offered her own input in the form of a pleased  _ mrrrrroww! _ “You’ll need to give her a name first, though.”

Of course! No kitten - or any pet, for that matter - could be allowed to go without a name! But what name could truly capture her wild spirit, her fierce determination, her unyielding courage in the face of adversity? It would have to be something grand, something noble, something that demanded respect from all other cats!

“Grimnir Junior!” He announced proudly, then hesitated. “No, wait… The Mighty Meower! No… The Kitten of Chaos?” None of them seemed quite right, and Alexiel shook her head at each one. Maybe those names were  _ too _ grand, or just a tad too fierce… “What about Storm?”

Struggling to wriggle itself free from Alexiel’s hold and nearly tumbling to the ground in the process, the kitten gave her loudest cry yet, her whole body wobbling with the effort.

_ “MRROOWW!” _

“I think she approves,” Alexiel smiled. “Guess that means the Mad Cyclone now has a little Storm to take care of - and I get the feeling she’ll be just as bright and lovely as you are.”

If Grimnir had brightened like the sun before, he must have been positively radiant now, his cheeks turning redder than the most perfectly ripened strawberry and his smile almost too wide for his face to contain - or it certainly felt that way, given the ache in his jaw. He was so thrilled with Alexiel’s compliment, however, that he wouldn’t have noticed. Had he still been standing in the furious downpour with water soaked through to his bones, he would have felt warmer than ever before, and if Alexiel noticed, she simply chuckled and turned her attention back to Storm.

“First of all, we need to get her out of this string, and I think it’s going to be a team effort. Can you reach those scissors and give me a hand? Shiva, we might need your help, too!”

Thanks to the three of them, little Storm was quickly free to wobble about the apartment, with Grimnir watching her every stumbling step, Alexiel watching Grimnir’s first day as a new feline parent, and Shiva pouring his fourth coffee for the evening with a long and very tired sigh, but it was safe to say that a very terrible day had quickly become a very excellent one, all thanks to one little kitten.


End file.
